Friday, January 15, 2010

My girl showed me a letter from school last week, telling me she is chosen for the Health & Fitness Club! To be crude, it means that my girl is FAT & OVERWEIGHT isn't it!?Gosh! I can't believe it!

Huh???? My girl overweight!?!? She is so active! She swims 1 to 2 times a week and ballet lesson twice a week! Besides that, she is very active, at home or outside. She eats healthily with lots of greens, fruits and less meat. At times I have to 'force' her to eat more meat. AND she doesn't eat unhealthy snacks often.

When my girl found out what it was all about, she was shocked too! She went around the house shouting "I am fat! I am fat!" Then she started doing exercises! She said she doesn't want to be fat... I have to assure her that she is not fat at all. She is very vain and to let her join this club, I am quite sure what kind of impact it will have on her.... She may refuse to eat or does exercises vigorously or worse, become anorexic!

While I was on PSG duties (last week), I went to the office and asked to speak to the teacher-in-charge. He was not available and I was told to fill up the form and to explain the reason/s to be excused from it.

I finally get to speak to the teacher 2 days ago... He said that according to their record last year, L was considered slightly overweight, her weight just tipped over the scale. What surprises me was that she was not only chosen because of her weight, but also because she is not in any CCA! It is not compulsory to have any CCA in P1 & P2, hence we did not sign her up for any. Her enrichment classes, ballet and swimming already keep her busy throughout the week.

Anyway, she has to go down today so that they can measure her weight & height again... I spoke to the teacher-in-charge again after the measurement. He remembered L and said he knows her as a very active girl. He explained that according to the chart given by HPB (Health Promotion Board), she just tip over the line and the chart is based on Asian size. He said even for him, he is considered overweight! The teacher is very fit and yet considered overweight! Unbelievable! I think HPB ought to review the chart.

I told him the reasons (I didn't mention abt my fear, just told him she swims and dances many times a week) again for pulling her out and said that L is planning to join a CCA. The teacher said he will excuse her from the club but I have to cooperate with them by maintaining her weight and make sure she exercise regularly. They will be monitoring her....

She is a growing child... How to stop her from eating? Haiz... What to do... She inherited her daddy's gene, heavy bones. She has to eat less white bread and white rice, which is her favourite... I also hope that by joining a CCA, they will take her off from the monitoring list. Oh! The next time they measure her weight, I will ask her not to eat first!

Ridiculous. The HPB should think with their brains. If they want to measure correctly they should also do a fat percentage test. If body fat is over a certain unhealthy percentage then perhaps on that basis one can consider. Muscle weighs more than fat anyway so a child who is say 150cm and does alot of sport may weigh more (due to increased muscle mass) than a child who is 150cm tall and has a high percentage of body fat. I would write to the Straits Times about this.